Car-coupling



(No Model.)

. H. A. SPRINGER.

I GAR COUPLING. No. 350,275. Patented Oct. 5, 1886.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR: Z9. isms M BY JAM c ATTORNEYS.

UNITED STATES PATENT Q EICE.

HENRY A. SPRINGER, OF EL MORO, ("OLORADO.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No.350,275, dated October5. 1886. Application filel June 30. I886. Serial No. 206,70l. (Nomodel.)

To an whom zit 772/61 1] concern.

Be it known that I, HENRY A. SPRINGER, of El Moro, in the county of LasAnimas and State of Colorado, have invented a new and ImprovedCar-Coupling, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

My invention relates to car-couplings, and has for its object toconstruct a coupling that will dispense with a link, thereby obviatingthe dangerous operation of guiding in coupling cars.

It consists in parallel draw-bars having tapering ends extending fromwithin a concave faced buffer secured to the bars, and having a suitablespace between to receive the bar of an opposing coupling, and in thedetails of construction of the buffer and drawbars, as will behereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my coupling; Fig. 2, a side elevation,partly in secti0n,of two couplings united; and Fig. 3,a vertical sectionthrough line 02 a: of Fig. 2.

The end sill, S, of the car is recessed to reeeive two draw-bars, A A,whose front ends extending out from the sill are gradually tapered off.These bars are alike in form and of the same length, extending parallelunder the car, with a space between. They are held apart by means of ablock, B, secured to the draw-bars by bolts, and the inner ends of thebars are bent toward each other. The two extreme ends thus broughttogether are pinned to one end of a draw-bolt, I), which carries afollowing plate, (1, against which the ends of the draw-bars rest, and asecond following plate, a, rests against a nut upon its outer end. Theplates a and c are held apart by a strong spiral spring, (I, encirclingthe drawbolt 1), and adapted to slide in suitable ways upon guide-piecessecured to the under timbers of the car.

A buffer-block, D, constructed with suitable mortises to receive thedraw-bars A A, is slid over the outer ends of said draw-bars to aposition near the end sill, S, of the car, and detachably securedthereon by apin, 0, the metal therein between the mortises acting as anadditional block to hold the draw-bars apart.

The face of the buffer D is concaved and the top cast with extendingsides, g, in which apertures are formed to receive and carry extracoupling-pins. A space is left between the end sill and the buffer, sothat the force of contact can. be relieved by the action of the spiralspring d and the following plates a a.

The draw-bars A A are supported in front by a carrier, c, formed withrecessed ends adapted to slide upon the vertical sides of the yoke H,suspended from beneath the car, and this carrier 6 rides upon and isbolted to a strong leafspring, f, which bears upon the bottom of theyoke H, and is provided with slots cut in each end to receive theguide-pins M in the said yoke to keep the spring in position and admitof its expansion and contraction.

Between the top of the recess formed in the end sill and the top of thedraw-bars, and between their sides and the yoke, a space is providedsufficient to admit of a slight vertical and horizontal movement of saiddraw-bars.

This form of coupling will couple as well upon a curved as in a straighttrack, as the eyes h in the extended draw-bars will register at nearlyany angle, and the tapering points of contact of the draw-bars, togetherwiththe concaved face of the buffer, admit of ready coupling in theevent one car is higher than the other. i

In substituting my couplingfor others in the standard cars it is notnecessary to change the following plates, simply the draw -bolt, andeven this in many cases can be dispensed with, as many are o'lt'similarconstruction.

The coupling is strong, simple, and easy to handle, being especiallyadapted to freightcars. In the event a draw-bar should break, the buffercan be unbolted, slipped off, and another section substituted withouttrouble.

The pin connecting the cars is not liable to breakage, as the strain isdistributed alongits entire length.

In coupling, as the cars come together, the tapering points of thedraw-bars cause them to glide easily to their position one above theother, and a pin taken from one of the apertures in the top extension ofthe buffer is readily dropped through the eyes, which can not fail toproperly register.

Having thus fully described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In acar-coupling, the combination, with a detachable concave-facedbutter-block, D, of

block, B, and a detachable concave-faced buffer-block, D, held upon saidbars by a pin, 6, of the supporting-yoke H, carrier 0, spring andguide-pins 1 substantially as shown and described, and For the purposeherein set forth.

4-. in a car-coupling, the detachable eoneave-faccd bt'tffer-bloek 1),provided with an upper and lower opening to receive the draw bars A, acentral integral spacing-block, and a vertical aperture to receive thepin 0, together with apertured projections for extra couplingpins,substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose herein setforth.

HENRY A. SPRINGER.

Wit ncsses:

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